Washington Mutual

Washington Mutual (WaMu) was closed and sold to JPMorgan Chase in September, 2008, during the financial crisis. At the time this was the largest bank failure in American history. It collapsed because of bad subprime loans that it had originated during the housing/mortgage bubble.

WaMu was a bank based in Seattle, Washington, U.S. that served consumers and small businesses. It offered money market deposits, home loans, credit cards, and investment advisory services. It also issued loans to businesses.

In 2006, sales were US$26.4 billion with profits of US$3.5 billion.

Campaign contributions
Washington Mutual gave $403,761 to federal candidates in the 2006 election through its two political action committees - 47% to Democrats and 53% to Republicans.

Lobbying
The company spent $360,000 for lobbying in the first half of 2007. $37,780 went to lobbyist Richard Hohlt and $27,000 to the lobbying firm Bartlett & Bendall, with the remainder being spent using in-house lobbyists.